Crashing Into Love (22 page)

After they ended the call, Trish opened her mini-fridge and handed Fiona a bottle of Scotch and opened one herself.

“We need a drink. You’re so nervous you’ve gone green.”

“Green?”

“Kidding. Drink up.”

They clinked bottles and downed the liquor.

Fiona cringed at the burning liquid sliding down her throat. “How do people drink that? It’s nasty.”

“Liquid courage, my dear. You’ll feel better in a few minutes.” She tossed the empty bottles in the trash and turned to answer the knock at the door.

“It’s him.” Fiona’s stomach flipped.

“Of course it’s him. I don’t have a date, remember?” Trish opened the door and stepped to the side with a dramatic sweep of her arm. “Mr. Braden, won’t you come in?”

Fiona’s heart was beating triple time as Jake stepped into the room in a dark suit that looked as if it were made for him. She’d seen him dressed up in magazines, but it had been years since she’d seen him all gussied up in person for their high school prom. He’d been handsome then, but
wow!
Back then she couldn’t imagine anyone looking more handsome. Now she realized how very wrong she’d been. Jake had filled out in all the right places, and although she’d already tasted, touched, and savored his delicious, naked body, there was something about seeing him in a suit that made her blood boil. She couldn’t tear her eyes away.

“You look beautiful, Trish.”

“Thank you.” Trish closed the door behind him.

Jake’s eyes locked on Fiona as he crossed the room and placed his hand on her lower back, kissing her cheek.

“You look ravishing,” he whispered. “Can’t I just take you home instead of going to dinner?”

Her whole body heated up.

“Okay, whatever you just said made the poor girl blush all over.” Trish laughed.

Jake lifted Fiona’s chin and kissed her softly on the lips. “Well?”

Fiona shook her head and smiled. “You can’t miss your big night.” She reached for Trish’s hand. “And I don’t want to miss your big night or Trish’s big night.”

“You’ll have plenty of fooling-around time afterward.” Trish rolled her eyes. “Are you filming this weekend?”

“They may need to do one scene, but as of right now, no.” Jake’s eyes ran between the two women. “Trish, do you want to ride with us? I’m sorry. I should have offered before now. That wasn’t very thoughtful of me.”

Fiona felt her heart squeeze. He might not have thought of it earlier, but the fact that he was thinking of it now meant the world to her.

“No, thank you. I promised myself that I’d show up alone. I’m making a statement.”

“You are?” Fiona asked.

“Yes, in all the years I’ve been acting, I’ve never gone to an event alone, and I think the world looks at actresses as always
needing
a man on their arm.” Trish smoothed her dress, stood up straighter, and drew her shoulders back. “I’m smart and secure and I want to arrive alone and smile so everyone knows it.”

“I never knew you were such a feminist.” Fiona laced her fingers with Jake’s.

“I’m impressed,” Jake said. “I don’t know many actresses who would show up alone to an event.”

“Thank you.” Trish reached for Fiona’s free hand. “Help me with my hair?”

Fiona wrinkled her brow.
Your hair?

“Mm-hmm.” Trish grabbed her hand. “Jake, we’ll be right back.” She dragged Fiona into the bathroom and closed the door behind them, leaning against it and breathing hard.

“I don’t want to go alone. I’m never nervous going to events when I have a date, and tonight I feel like I’m red-carpet-for-the-first-time nervous,” Trish admitted.

“Wow, you are? You just blew me away out there.” Fiona shook her head.

“I was acting. I’m good, right?” Trish managed a partial smile.

“You’re spectacular, and you’re coming with us.” Fiona embraced her.

“I can’t do that. This is your date. I think I can handle it alone. Just tell me I’ll be fine. Tell me that acting is easy and that’s what I need to do tonight. It’s stupid that I’m nervous. I’ve gone to a bazillion events.”

“No way. Who cares how many events you’ve gone to? Come with us. Jake won’t mind, and we can lean on each other. I’m nervous, too.”

“You sure?” Trish asked with a furrowed brow.

“Of course.”

“You don’t think I’m lame? I’m always the one who’s strong.”

“Well, tonight I’ll be strong and you can be the beautiful actress who is secure enough to show up without a date and with a best friend and her boyfriend in tow.”

A smile spread across Trish’s lips. “Boyfriend.” She clutched Fiona’s hands.

“I know!”

They wiggled their shoulders and hips and grinned like silly kids doing a happy dance, then both inhaled a loud breath and blew it out. They drew their shoulders back and put their game faces—or rather, adult faces—on.

“Ready?” Fiona asked.

“Let’s do this.”

JAKE AND FIONA sat across from Trish in the back of the limousine. Jake held Fiona’s hand while she fidgeted with the edge of her fancy black dress. Her legs looked a mile long in a pair of black spiky heels, and no matter how much Jake tried to distract himself, he couldn’t help but envision her legs wrapped around his waist, spiky heels and all.

He tried to push away the dirty thoughts, knowing they’d be barraged by cameras in mere minutes, not to mention that Trish was sitting across from them looking like she was about to go to war. He touched Fiona’s cheek, bringing her eyes to his. The dark eye shadow she had on made her look even more alluring. He wanted to see her beautifully coiffed hair spread across his pillow as he loved her senseless. He didn’t give a damn about the cast dinner, but Luce, his public-relations rep, had given him hell about the paparazzi stunt he’d pulled last week and made him promise to behave tonight.

He knew the rules of the celebrity lifestyle, and although he sometimes liked to break them, he knew that being with Fiona tonight would bring her further into his world. And he wanted that in a bad way. He wanted her to be comfortable in his world and to be seen with him wherever he went. He knew Fiona was nervous tonight, and he focused on making her feel at ease.

“You two look gorgeous,” he said sincerely.

Trish looked up at him through thick lashes. “Thank you. It’s crazy that I was nervous to go alone, wasn’t it?”

“The first time I went to a cast dinner, I was alone, and I felt like I was going to be sick. Then I realized that everyone there was just a normal person. Like me and you.” Jake draped an arm over Fiona’s shoulder and hoped that she was hearing everything he was saying. He knew that Trish could handle herself, but he didn’t want to direct all of his advice to Fiona, for fear of making her even more nervous. “Everyone will be two sheets to the wind by the time we arrive, and they’ll carry on about the movie like it’s going to be the best one yet. And it might. But they’re no different from the people Fiona works with. They just think they are.”

Trish shifted her eyes to Fiona, as if she was hoping Fiona was listening, too. “Somehow I don’t think they’re just like Clark or Joe.”

“Clark and Joe are two of the scientists I work with. They’re pretty…scientisty. You know, quiet, serious,” Fiona explained.

“Don’t knock nerds,” Jake said. “You know I have an engineering degree.” Jake’s mother had insisted that he get a college degree as a backup plan to his stuntman career, and he remembered Fiona once telling him that his intelligence was the second thing that had attracted her to him. The first being the way he’d looked at her when she was a teenager—like no one else existed.

“You are the sexiest nerd I’ve ever met.” Fiona leaned over and kissed him, then glanced at Trish. “Well, the sexiest male nerd. Trish is the sexiest female nerd. In fact, you guys should make a new
Revenge of the Nerds
movie and show them how unnerdy nerds can be.”

They rode in silence for a beat, and then Fiona said, “Nice try, but I’m still nervous.”

He smiled in a way he hoped was reassuring. “I’ll be right there with you. Think of it as having dinner with a bunch of really loud friends. Celebrities are regular people; they just have more exposure than other people.”

Fiona shook her head. “Sorry, but Steven Hileberg is
not
a regular person. Zane Walker is
not
a regular person.
You’re
not a regular person.” She fidgeted with her dress. “Before I came here, I kept telling myself that you were just a regular guy. The same guy you were in Trusty, but, Jake, you’re anything but that guy. You’re a star.”

Jake grinned. “That’s just my job. What does that have to do with anything?”

The limousine parked in front of the restaurant.

“I don’t want to take anything away from that.” She looked at Trish. “And
you’re
not a regular person either. You guys are both superstars. I should be nervous. I’m just me. Rock girl.”

The driver opened the door for Jake, but he didn’t move. He held Fiona’s hand and her gaze.

“Rock girl. The hottest damn rock girl around.” A smile spread across his lips. “I called you that the first time I asked you out.”

“I remember.” She smiled, and he wondered if she was remembering when he’d given her the nickname, too. Fiona had been in the science lab looking at pieces of rock through a microscope, and Jake had tried to get her attention by asking a million questions. Fiona hadn’t lifted her eyes from the microscope until he’d said,
So tell me, rock girl. What do you like to do on Friday nights?
He later told her that he’d thought she didn’t like him, and only then did she admit that she had been afraid that if she looked at him she’d lose her nerve to speak.

Cameras flashed through the tinted glass, drawing all of their attention back to the moment.

“Trish, do you want to walk in with us?” Jake offered.

“No, thanks. I’ll be fine,” Trish said. “Come on, rock girl. We need to get this over with before you chicken out.”

Camera flashes blinded Jake as he helped Trish and Fiona from the car. He slipped his arm around Fiona’s waist and held her close.

“Jake, who’s your mystery date?” a tall man yelled.

Jake wondered if he’d been hiding beneath a rock, since their pictures had been plastered all over the Internet for days. He gazed into Fiona’s eyes as he answered.

“No mystery. The one and only Fiona Steele,” Jake said with pride as they smiled for the cameras and walked into the restaurant, trailed by camera flashes and unanswered questions.

“Fiona, over here!” a man yelled.

She turned as if she’d walked the runway her whole life and flashed an easy smile. Appreciation and pride swelled in Jake’s chest. He knew being the center of attention was nerve-racking for her, and yet there she was, carrying herself with poise and smiling as if she’d been walking the red carpet her whole life. He kissed her temple. Every step they took was met with dozens of camera flashes. Jake kept a tight grip on Fiona, and as they walked into the restaurant, he heard the paparazzi turning their attention to Trish.

“Trish Ryder!” a woman yelled, and cameras flashed behind them.

Spice, the upscale restaurant where the dinner was being hosted, was dimly lit and smelled like rich foods, expensive perfume, and money. Dark woods and plush seating occupied by men in Armani suits and women in designer dresses were regular sights at the upscale restaurant. The hostess had the rail-thin body of a runway model and moved gracefully through the restaurant in her long black skirt as she led them toward the private room in the back of the restaurant.

“You okay?” Jake whispered to Fiona.

“The one and only?” She raised her brows.

“You are, Fi. It just took me a long time to figure it out.” Jake felt a hand on his arm and turned to find two blond women who looked familiar rising from where they’d been sitting with a group of people.

“Jake,” one of them purred as she moved to kiss his cheek.

“Remember us?” the tall blonde said, eyeing Fiona. “We heard you were back in town.”

Jake tightened his grip around Fiona’s waist and felt her stiffen against his side. He noticed two actors rising from their seats, waving him over, a welcome distraction from the two women who were invading his personal space. He turned and spotted Trish and Zane heading in their direction. The space between tables was quickly filling with fans and other people in the industry. Jake pulled from the women’s grasp and took a step away.

 “Ladies,” he said. “Nice to see you again.”

He guided Fiona away, mumbling an apology to her, as Brenda Marlow, another actress, rose from her seat and embraced Jake, tearing him from Fiona.

“So good to see you again.” She swooned.

Christ
. He saw a sad look in Fiona’s eyes as Brad Parlor, an A-list actor, grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him away from Brenda and into a manly embrace.
Thank God
.

“Jake. Congrats, man.” Along with doing Brad’s stunts for his last five movies, Jake had done a fair amount of partying with Brad. “I hear your newest flick is going to be insane.”

“That’s the hope. They have a great cast.” Jake eyed the tables ahead of them, noting several celebrities he recognized and anticipating an onslaught of greetings. He had one goal in mind, to get back to Fiona and get her through this quickly. “Excuse us, Brad.”

When he turned, he was eye to eye with two actors from his last film. He greeted them, and a crowd quickly gathered. He shook hands and slapped the men’s backs congenially, laughing at their jokes. One of the men drew his date up to her feet, and she wrapped her arms around Jake’s neck in greeting. He didn’t even catch her name as he was spun in another direction and into the arms of another actress who pawed at him like he was there for her taking. He hoped Fiona wasn’t watching as he tried to fend her off, which proved far more difficult than he’d anticipated. She wrapped her fingers around the nape of his neck and whispered something about meeting her later.

People at neighboring tables stood to take photos, and being the practiced actor that he was, Jake smiled as if he were on a photo shoot, then used more force than he would have liked to pry himself from the hungry actress’s hands. Zane and Trish, trailed by more camera flashes, joined him a few minutes later, and as he turned again to try to locate Fiona, his stomach sank. She was nowhere in sight.